King Abdullah, Qatari emir hold talks in Jeddah

Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah receives at his palace in Jeddah Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al Thani, Emir of Qatar, on Monday night.(SPA)

Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah held talks with the emir of Qatar’s on Monday evening in Jeddah, the Saudi Press Agency (SPA) said.

King Abdullah received Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani at the king’s palace in Jeddah, during which the duo discussed various aspects of cooperation, SPA said.

“During the meeting, they discussed cooperation between the two countries in addition to the overall events and developments in the Arab, Islamic and international arena,” said the report.

King Abdullah and Sheikh Tamim earlier met in Jeddah on July 22, during which they reportedly discussed a way to reach a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas rulers in Gaza.

Monday’s meeting was the second for the two leaders in less than three months since Qatar and fellow members of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) patched up their disagreements over Qatar’s alleged support for some extremist groups.

Qatar’s relations with Riyadh, the Emirates and Bahrain sank to a new low in March when the three governments withdrew their ambassadors from Doha, accusing it of meddling in their affairs and supporting the Muslim Brotherhood — designated as “terrorist” by the Saudi and Egyptian governments.

Qatar has denied the charge.

All four GCC members have taken part in or given support to US-led coalition air strikes against extremists of the Islamic State group in Syria.

Witnessing Monday’s meeting of the two rulers were Crown Prince Salman, deputy premier and defense minister; Deputy Crown Prince Muqrin bin Abdulaziz, second deputy premier and adviser to and special envoy of the king; Prince Bandar bin Sultan, secretary-general of the National Security Council and adviser to and special envoy of the king; Prince Khalid bin Bandar, chief of General Intelligence; Prince Miteb bin Abdullah, Minister of National Guard; Prince Mohammed bin Naif bin Abdulaziz, Minister of Interior; Prince Abdulaziz bin Abdullah bin Abdulaziz, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs; Prince Mohammed bin Salman, minister of dtate, Cabinet member, and chief of the crown prince’s court and special adviser; Dr. Musaed bin Mohammed Al-Aiban, minister of the state and member of the Cabinet; Dr. Ibrahim bin Abdulaziz Al-Assaf and the accompanying delegation of the Qatari emir.